"The question of a possible dialogue between Iran and the United States raises another question: for what purpose? "

Chronic. What are the chances of dialogue between the United States and Iran on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program? The mere fact of asking this question is progress. Until then, questions were raised about the risks of war between the two countries in the Arab-Persian Gulf. No offense to the doctors "there are only" and eternal sorrows, this thematic shift is largely due to the efforts of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Far from the media hype, diplomacy is a matter of time. When US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger negotiated a disengagement between the Arab and Israeli armies in the 1970s, he put in months – without being sure of the outcome. The talks on the control of nuclear weapons during the Cold War took years. Diplomacy, this desire to take precedence over the tumult of passions, is an ungrateful job. Success is never guaranteed and, in a democracy, hardly brings any votes.

A dual purpose

The G7 Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) – the annual meeting of Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom – on the nuclear issue is an opening: the possibility of a meeting between US Presidents Donald Trump and Iranian Hassan Rohani. Nothing is sure, but you have to start somewhere.

The presence of the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on the Basque coast may have been indicative of a change in climate. Informed in advance of this visit, Trump did not object, even if he did not meet the Iranian. Similarly, it would not have gone to Biarritz without the green light implied by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the real boss in Tehran.

Result? " In certain circumstances ", Trump judge 'Realistic' next meeting – at the UN in September? – with Rohani. Under certain conditions, including the lifting of US sanctions – some sanctions? – who weigh on Iran, Rohani is ready to hold talks with the American president.

By unilaterally denouncing, in May 2018, the international control agreement of the Iranian nuclear program, concluded in Vienna on July 14, 2015, Trump had a twofold objective. He wanted a more binding agreement. He wanted to include clauses limiting the arsenal of Iranian ballistic missiles and Tehran's expansionism in the Arab world.